Archived News from January 2009
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CURTIS WOODHOUSE SIGNS FROM RUSHDEN
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05 Jan 2009
CURTIS WOODHOUSE SIGNS FROM RUSHDEN Read more at mansfieldtown.net here StagsWorld Freeview video interview here -------------------- audio interview from Radio Nottingham here ---------------- Curtis Woodhouse in the Non League Paper, 11 Jan 2009: "It feels like I'm back at a proper football club. Mansfield Town has a lot of history. I'm older than Rushden & Diamonds!" Woodhouse adds: "David (Holdsworth) lived at my house when we were together at Birmingham. He was my lodger - and he was very high maintenance, I can tell you. I know him really well. He's very ambitious and I knew he would go into management because he was always a student of football." ---------------- Rushden official site: Curtis Woodhouse has today left Rushden & Diamonds, signing for Mansfield Town. ------------------------- Woodhouse signing for Mansfield Town finally confirmed Boxing midfielder is first signing of new Stags boss David Holdsworh CHAD.co.uk, 05 January 2009, By Tim Morriss MANSFIELD Town have finally confirmed Curtis Woodhouse as new manager David Holdsworth's first signing - as originally suggested by Chad last week. The centre midfielder has joined from Rushden until the end of the season and was paraded ahead of a Monday afernoon press conference at Field Mill (full report to follow). READ more at CHAD.co.uk here Woodhouse (28), who was captain at the Diamonds, played with Holdsworth at both Sheffield United and Birmingham. Holdsworth played down Chad's reports at the end of last week that Woodhouse was joining the Stags, but admitted the midfielder was a player he was looking at bringing to the club. Woodhouse told the club's official website mansfieldtown.net: "I am an all-action player. "I like to get up and down the pitch and get a few tackles in. "We are at the wrong end of the table at the minute, but if Mansfield want somebody to fight until the end of the season then they have brought the right man in." Talking about his return to football, after quitting when he left Grimsby for a boxing career, he added: " A former England U21 international, Woodhouse started his career at Sheffield United in 1997 and was transferred to Birmingham for £1m in 2001. He has played more than 300 first team matches for the Blades, Birmingham, Rotherham, Peterbrough, Hull, Grimsby and now Rushden. Woodhouse is also well known for his boxing career, for which he briefly quit football late in 2006. Since then he has combined boxing and football and was made captain at Rushen last summer, halfway through a two-year contract. In his professional boxing career he has won all of nine fights as a welterweight - and there is a Facebook group set up by his fans, click here to join. ------------------------ Woodhouse excited by switch to Mansfield Town CHAD 05 January 2009 By John Lomas NEW Stags signing Curtis Woodhouse has spoken of his 'excitement' at teaming up once more with David Holdsworth and his ambition to achieve success both with Mansfield Town and as a professional boxer. The battling midfielder (28) has been told he can continue both careers after securing his release from BSP rivals Rushden and Diamonds and joining the Stags on Monday - as predicted by Chad late last week. He told Chad: "It's the first time in a while that I have been this excited joining a new club - probably since I went to Hull. "With David here these could be exciting time and I am glad to be a part of it. If I didn't think exciting times were ahead I wouldn't have come. "I played with David at Sheffield United and Birmingham City - he was my captain at both clubs. I got a phone call from him to ask me if I wanted to come to Mansfield and within 48 hours I had signed. It was all pretty straightfoward. "You always know certain players will end up in management and David was one of those. He was a leader on the pitch and he will take that into his management. "He is very ambitious and I like to surround myself with ambitious people as I think it rubs off on you." But away from his football ambitions, Woodhouse is looking to build on a perfect record of nine wins in his nine fights as a welterweight boxer, six of them by knockouts, and is back in ring action at the end of March, live on Setanta Sports, in Liverpool. He said: "Combining the two is trial and error really. There is no one I can ring up and talk to about it as no one else is daft enough to do it! "But structured correctly I can't see any problems. I wil train here in the mornings, drive back up to the gym in Rotherham to train at 4.30pm, be home at 8.30pm to see the missus and have my tea, go to bed and then get up and do it all again! "Yes it's hard work but it's better than digging holes which my dad did for 20 years of his life. So I won't be complaining about playing football and boxing. "The proof will be in the pudding and I have to perform. I won't be able to go full steam all week or I will burn myself out. I will ease off on the boxing training on a Thursday and Friday so I am fresh for the game on Saturday. "It wasn't the training so much as the driving that was the problem at Rushden. I was spending six hours a day in the car when I trained at Rushden as I am based in Hull and boxing in Rotherham." He added: "I have always loved boxing from a young age and I am not getting any younger and decided I wanted to get involved. "Whichever football club I have played for I have gone down to a local gym to do some sparring, telling them I was an amateur boxer with a fight coming up in a few weeks. "After a few week, they eventually recognised who I was and the cat was out the bag - then I would just move on and blag my way into another gym. "I can't try to dress it up, I love fighting and this is the best way to do it so I don't get into any trouble." Woodhouse will miss Saturday's visit of Altrincham with a one-game ban for five bookings and he admitted: "I like to play my football the way I box - fast and furious. "I like to get my foot in and get stuck in. I give 110 per cent which sometimes gets me into trouble - but that's the way it goes. "As a boxer I like to come forward and if I get hit two or three times I know I will land one of my own. "I think David understands my boxing situation. he came to see my second last fight in Sheffield where I won with a second round knock-out. "I have know him 11 years and I have been open and honest. I have signed to the end of the season and we will see where it goes from there." Woodhouse feels he has already seen enough at Field Mil to suggest they can quickly make progress, "The most important thing is getting a clean sheet," he said. "I have seen in training we have a lot of exciting players with pace. "So if we can achieve clean sheets then I am sure we can score goals at the other end. "If you are well organised in this division and have players who can score then you will be a threat. "I have experience and I like to be a leader on the pitch. I will do anything I can to help and will certainly be organising the people around me. We need to be a solid unit." Holdsworth was delighted with the addition of Woodhouse to his squad and said: "Curtis is a rat - in the nicest possible way of course! "I am not into nice guys. And playing tippy tappy football won't get us out of this trouble we are in. That's not being disrespectful to any of the players. "We have to work hard collectively and as a unit and also show mental strength." The Stags boss is not unduly concerned about Woodhouse's boxing career affecting his footbal and added: "He may get a black eye here if he doesn't play very well! "We know he has a fight planned and we will allow him to continue his progress. "We should be very grateful he has come here and also to Garry Hill at Rushden. Curtis is a warrior and we need 11 out there like him." -------------------- Soccerbase: Curtis Woodhouse Height 5.08 , Weight 11.00 Date of birth 17-04-1980 , Place of birth Driffield Position Midfielder , Nationality England All time playing career Club From To Fee League FA Cup League cup Other Rushden 01-03-2007 Free 59 (1) 5 1 (0) 0 0 (0) 0 6 (0) 0 Grimsby 27-01-2006 31-05-2006 Signed 16 (0) 1 0 (0) 0 0 (0) 0 3 (0) 0 Hull City 17-05-2005 27-01-2006 £ 25000 14 (4) 0 0 (0) 0 1 (0) 0 0 (0) 0 Peterborough 14-10-2003 17-05-2005 Free 58 (3) 11 6 (0) 1 1 (0) 0 4 (0) 0 Rotherham 24-01-2003 05-05-2003 Loan 11 (0) 0 0 (0) 0 0 (0) 0 0 (0) 0 Birmingham 02-02-2001 14-10-2003 £ 1000000 35 (13) 2 1 (0) 0 3 (1) 0 2 (0) 0 Sheff Utd 01-08-1997 02-02-2001 Trainee 92 (12) 6 10 (0) 0 5 (2) 0 0 (0) 0 Totals £ 1025000 285 (33) 25 18 (0) 1 10 (3) 0 15 (0) 0 goals / game 0.07 0.05 0 0 Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals ------------------------- |
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